BRISTOL, Conn. -- Brett Favre's matchup with his former team has attracted the largest cable television audience ever.

His Minnesota Vikings' 30-23 win over the Green Bay Packers on ESPN's "Monday Night Football" was watched by more than 21.8 million people. The previous record was more than 18.6 million viewers for last year's Monday night game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys.

ESPN also said Tuesday that the game drew the highest rating in the network's 30-year history. The 15.3 rating beat the 14.4 for a Bears-Vikings game on Dec. 6, 1987, during ESPN's first season of televising NFL games.

The news regarding Fred Taylor's ankle injury just went from bad to worse.

According to Christopher Gasper of the Boston Globe, Taylor is "facing the likelihood" of missing the season after undergoing surgery Thursday for "severe ligament damage in his right ankle."

Taylor reportedly has a "small chance" to return in the final month of the regular season depending on his recovery.

How the Patriots handle Taylor's status on the 53-man roster over the next few weeks will tell us if they are hopeful for a return. The veteran starter is valuable, but New England has a deep group of running backs and it could become difficult to hold his spot as the season wears on.

Kevin Faulk, Laurence Maroney, and Sammy Morris have all taken big snaps for the franchise, and fourth-stringer BenJarvus Green-Ellis started multiple games in 2008 with success.

On Sunday, ESPN.com reported that Davis was injured during a recent post-practice period for extra work when he was hit by a Browns linebacker. According to the report, witnesses said Davis was not wearing shoulder pads while the unidentified defender who hit him had them on.

League spokesman Greg Aiello said the league is aware of the alleged incident and has been looking into the matter.

"The review is ongoing," Aiello said in an e-mail response to The Associated Press.

Mangini confirmed Monday that he has had discussions with the league, and said that following his own research that he's "comfortable with where we are on it."

"I like James Davis a lot," Mangini said. "The last thing we want to do is ever put him in a position or anybody in a position where they could get hurt. I've talked to a lot of people involved in it and we're going to continue to work with the league on it."

Mangini did not deny the report, but repeated several times that he has been in touch with the league.

He said the post-practice period is open to all players to get in extra work, but that it's normally attended by rookies and younger players. He said the workouts are done in a controlled environment, supervised by coaches. Mangini said he occasionally watches.

Mangini noted that Patriots quarterback Tom Brady took part in similar sessions during his first season with New England.

Mangini said he would never condone a situation like the one being reported.

"We'd never do that," he said. "If something like that did happen, it shouldn't happen. Ever."

A sixth-round draft pick from Clemson, Davis was impressive in training camp and the exhibition season. He was hurt in the season opener against Minnesota and was placed on injured reserve on Oct. 3.

The ESPN report said the NFL Players Association may file a grievance, although Davis may hesitate for fear of losing his job. His base salary is $310,000 this season.

Browns linebacker D'Qwell Jackson did not see the incident, and thought it sounded implausible. He said players can be fined by Mangini for not wearing the proper pads at practice.

"That sounds crazy to me that something like that would be reported," Jackson said. "But I wasn't there. I don't know exactly what happened. That doesn't make any sense to me. That wouldn't be fair to him [Davis]."

Running back Jamal Lewis, who knows Davis well, avoided any specific questions about the incident.

"Actually, I don't really know none of that," said Lewis, who attended the same Atlanta high school as Davis. "I just know that he had hurt his shoulder in the first game. That's all I really know about."

Mangini confirmed that Davis will need surgery but would not say if an operation has been scheduled.

PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Aaron Smith will miss the rest of the season with a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder, an injury that significantly weakens what was the NFL's best defense the last two seasons.

No matter how much success the Dolphins have with their Wildcat formation, there are always those who are quick to call the formation a gimmick that can't be used for a team that wins big.

Monday Night Football announcer Ron Jaworski is the latest to weigh in on the formation. Appearing on ESPN radio this morning, an interview helpfully passed along by old PFT friend Michael David Smith of FanHouse, Jaworski said that while the Dolphins run well out of the Wildcat it is still "a gimmick and a gadget" that won't ever help a team win a championship.

"Clearly, no one does it better than the Miami Dolphins, but I really believe that at the end of the season they're going to have to find a way to get some explosive plays out of the passing game," Jaworski said. "It was crystal clear in the Colts' game, they controlled the ball 45 minutes but when you run the football that well you're not going to score a lot of points."

While Jaworski isn't wrong that teams need explosiveness in all phases of their offensive attack, his analysis of the Colts loss seems off base. The problem with the Dolphins in the Colts game was their inability to stop Peyton Manning from driving down the field and scoring points in a manner of seconds, not the fact that they held the ball for 45 minutes and wound up with 23 points.

Think back to Super Bowl XXV when pundits fell all over themselves to praise the ball control gameplan drawn up by Bill Parcells to help his Giants beat the Bills. The Giants held the ball for nearly 41 minutes and only scored 19 points, but they beat the Bills because their defense held the potent Bills offense to just 17 points before Scott Norwood missed wide right.

They didn't use the Wildcat, but isn't it just splitting hairs to argue that one offensive style is better than another one if it puts your team into position to win games?

Furthermore, on Monday night the Dolphins did make explosive plays in the passing game. Chad Henne hit Ted Ginn for a 53-yard touchdown pass against the excellent Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis, the kind of big play that may be more common now that Henne has taken over the reins from the more limited Chad Pennington.

The biggest problem with Jaworski's lament is that you could say the same thing about any team with one big strength coupled with mediocre or worse play in other phases of the game. Did the fact that the Saints missed the playoffs the last two seasons mean that you can't win with an explosive passing game? No, because as they've proven this season you need a good running game and strong defense as well.

The Wildcat can't be everything, but to say it can't be part of something seems quite silly given the evidence the Dolphins have provided over the last two seasons.

According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, the Bucs have sent the fourth overall pick in the 2007 draft to Chicago for a 2010 draft pick. According to the Bears' official web site, it's a second-round selection.

Last month, Bucs coach Raheem Morris called out Adams, a defensive end, for his lack of production through two games of the 2009 season.

"He hasn't [put forth the production], and I think Gaines knows that," Morris said, per PewterReport.com. "Gaines is one of those guys that knows that he is judged on whether he touches the quarterback or not. Right now he is not getting production as far as not just touching the quarterback, the tackles, the sacks. He's not getting any of that. He is not playing up to par right now. He's holding himself accountable. We have to hold him accountable, and it is tough right now. He is not getting it done. There are no excuses. There are no explanations. Gaines is not getting it done right now."

Since then, Adams has registered one sack.

His role in Chicago remains to be seen. The starting defense ends are Adewale Ogunleye and Alex Brown. At best, Adams will enter the rotation, getting snaps when the starters need rest.

Meanwhile, the Bucs continue to be one of the few teams that will make deals at the trade deadline, even after the departure of G.M. Bruce Allen. Given that the Buccaneers have no realistic chance of turning it around in 2009, maybe there will be more deals made before Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. ET.